Process of forming pieces of raw cement.



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GUSTAV MULLER, or BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS OF FORh/HNG PIECES OF RAW CEMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 678,748, dated July 16,1901.

Application filed April 16, 1901. Serial No. 56,162. (No specimens.)

To etZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUSTAV MoLLnR, civil engineer, chemist, andmanufacturer, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at FriedrichWilhelmstrasse 19, Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Forming Raw Cement in Pieces or Blocks; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In the manufacture of cement What is usu ally called raw cement isproduced in a plastic mass by mixing the other ingredients with water,and it has heretofore been found necessary to form or mold this plasticmass into solid blocks somewhat resembling bricks,

which are afterward baked in an oven or kiln. Usually this plastic massis formed into bricks and baked thereafter bya process similar to thatof the manufacture of bricks of clay or loam, so that the cement bricksfirst undergo a drying process and afterward are baked in a kiln. Thisway of manufacture is a toilsome and expensive one, as it requires anexpensive apparatus as well as the services of numerous workmen. Besidesthat, the form of bricks is not always the most suitable one, especiallynot if a s0-called pit-kiln is used for the baking process. A formresembling somewhat that of a globe is far more preferable, becauseobjects of such a shape possess a higher solidity and cannot so easilybe chipped off or lose fragments, as pieces in the form of bricks willdo on their sharp edges and corners.

This invention is intended to remove all these inconveniences andprovides a process for the manufacture of dry and larger pieces of rawcement which are ready to immediately undergo the baking process.

It is a well-known fact that small pieces of dry cement if brought intocontact withplastic cement mass will absorb water vigorously andincrease in size by gathering the material about them and surroundingthemselves with a layer of raw cement, and this is the fact this newprocess is based on. The small fragments of dry cement which are formedinside of a drying-box (which box can have the shape of a drum) aregathered in and brought a second time into contact with plastic cementmass in such a way that they will encompass themselves a second timewith a layer of the mass, and so grow more voluminous every time thisprocedure is repeated. This can be effected in the following Way: Thesmall pieces of dry cement which leave the drying apparatus are carriedback to the entrance of said apparatus by means of any desired kind oftransportation, and so undergo a second time the process of envelopingand drying,which can be repeated as often as itis necessary to givethose pieces any desired volume. Sieves are employed to separate thepieces big enough for the baking process from those which will have toundergo the enveloping and drying process once more.

A second way to perform this process is the following: The drying-drumsare constructed one behind the other, so that the small pieces inleaving the first one drop into the second, which simultaneously issupplied with fresh plastic mass, and so on, that as many of thesedrying apparatuses may be employed as are necessary to give the piecesany dried volume.

The same process can further be performed Within one apparatus, so thatthe fresh plastic mass is brought in through several openings, so thatthe pieces forming themselves at the first opening from there arecarried to the second to undergo there the surrounding and dryingprocess, and from there to the third, and so on, until they have thedesired size. Another way to perform the same operation is thefollowing: Fixed or movable planes or other objects are used, on top ofwhich the first layer of cement mass will dry and which after fresh massis applied will grow bigger and bigger until any desired size isobtained, whereby it is indifferent whether these objects are heatedfrom inside or are exposed to a draft of warm air on their outside, sothat the process, if desired, can be performed continually.

Having thus fully described the invention, What is claimed as new is 1.The herein described process for the manufacture of solid pieces of rawcement which consists in drying the plastic raw cement and successivelybringing pieces of said dried cement into contact with newly-mixedplastic mass, thus surrounding said pieces with a new layer of the massat each operation until the pieces have reached the desired size and areready for the baking process.

2. The herein described process for the manufacture of solid pieces ofraw cement which consists in drying the plastic raw cement andsuccessively bringing pieces of said dried cement into contact withnewly-mixed plastic mass, thus surrounding said pieces with a new layerof the mass at each operation drying the pieces sufficiently after eachoperation to permitof sifting them,and finally submitting the pieceswhich have attained the required size to the baking process.

3. The improvement in the process, herein described, for the manufactureof solid pieces of raw cement, which consists in permitting dried piecesof the cement to pass successively through a series of drying-drums eachof which contains a plastic mass of raw cement with which the pieces ofcement are successively brought into contact until they are passedthrough the whole series of dryingdrums and finally submitting thepieces which have attained the desired size to the baking process.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GUSTAV MoLLER.

Witnesses WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPER.

